Australia has issued a national apology to survivors of the thalidomide drug scandal, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called one of the "darkest chapters" in the country's medical history.
Thalidomide was a "wonder drug" prescribed in the 1950s and early 1960s to help pregnant women cope with morning sickness, but it was later discovered the chemical also caused severe birth defects in children.
The Thalidomide Trust estimates more than 10,000 babies worldwide were impacted by thalidomide before it was pulled from shelves in the 1960s.
"Every day between then and now, Australians affected by thalidomide have been owed an apology," Mr Albanese said in a speech to parliament as Australian Thalidomide survivors watched on.
"Today, at long last, Australia will say sorry.
"This apology takes in one of the darkest chapters in Australia's medical history."
The British government made a similar apology in 2010.
Australian obstetrician William McBride was in 1961 one of the first doctors to raise the alarm, after noticing women taking the drug were more likely to have babies with stunted or missing limbs.
The Australian government has said some 150 thalidomide survivors are registered with a national support program.
In Ireland, thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women from 1957 and was not withdrawn until 1962, nine months after the international withdrawal of the drug.
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'They need to hear the words - this was not your fault'
A campaigner in Ireland has said it was "very emotional" to hear the Australian government's "well-worded apology".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Finola Cassidy, of the Irish Thalidomide Association, said she felt the apology covered an awful lot, "and I hope that our thalidomide family in Australia feel some calmness, feel some healing after it because it is hard to listen to and it's hard to hear."
She said the parallel between that happened in Ireland and Australia is "very amazing", adding that both countries opted not to withdraw the drug at the time a global withdrawal was under way.
Ms Cassidy said that by not withdrawing the drug in Ireland in a timely manner many of her organisation’s members "were needlessly affected" after the global withdrawal date.
"If they had done the right thing on their watch at that time, many of our members would not be so catastrophically disabled", she said.
She said it is interesting that the Australian government has announced that is is reopening the application process for those who were previously unacknowledged.
"And that's a big one because here in Ireland, we've been campaigning for many, many years for about 10 or 12 people. That's all we have here in Ireland. And these people have a categorical medical diagnosis that they are thalidomide damaged."
She added; "We've been calling for the apology for many years and we've been particularly calling for it, for the mothers. We have about five or six mothers, a couple of them are in their 90s, and they need to hear the words I've often said, and now he's actually said them - this was not your fault.
"And I think that's very important. It's just cruel to wait 62 years for this. The time is now, take the good example and let's move on with the Irish story."
